E-Bike Recklessness Is Creating a Public Safety Crisis

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday Morning. Well, today is Senator George Burrella and a common sense individual. That’s why we have him won more so than not. And he’s from Chatacla County and he’s a New York State senator and at one time he was the county executive of Chautauka County. And he tells us about all the problems upstate New York, and he

0:24 tells us about New York City too. Well, Senator, give us see your low down for Sunday Morning.

0:31 Speaker 2 Well, first of all, thank you very much, John for having me on. And the people in Chautauqua County appreciate your show as well as the people in New York City. And today we’re talking about something that’s impacting every corner of our state, and that is the reckless operation of these e bikes and scooters, so called mic mobility devices,

0:48 and it’s a real problem. I will give credit to a news Day that did an editorial last week talking about the fact that this is a real crisis here in New York State. They cited the fact that the Pediatric Trump Center at Stonybrook Children’s Hospital now says that these microbibility related hospital admissions have increased more than nine

1:07 hundred percent just between twenty twenty three and twenty twenty five. They’re now the number one reason for kids being admitted to their hospitals for injury. We know that, you know, just anecdotally, when you when you walk around the streets, particularly in New York City, you step off that curb and you’re taking your life into your own hands. These

1:22 people are driving recklessly, so many of them.

1:25 Speaker 1 I live in New York City as well as Suffolk County, and you step off the street, these guys are going thirty forty miles an hour and they even get the motorcycles in that lane.

1:37 Speaker 2 Yeah, it’s nuts this. You know, it’s hard enough to navigate things in New York City, and particularly when it comes to you know, pedestrian and traffic and everything else, and these, you know, these aig device to become reckless.

1:47 You see people that go from the bike lane up onto the sidewalks, They go against traffic, they ignore traffic signals and stop signs. It’s very reckless. And the problem is we have not as a state stepped up and regular this properly. And that’s what I’m really advocating for.

2:02 I have a law proposed bill propose law that would do that. In New York City, you were allowed to use.

2:08 Speaker 1 A bipartisan or is a lack of common sense? You know what?

2:12 Speaker 2 I will tell you this. I think that there you will see in this coming year a bipartisan effort. I know that Jeremy Cooney, who is a Democrat and chair of the Transportation Committee in the Senate, has been talking about this very same topic, and I suspect going to the new year we will see a bipartisan effort to

2:29 topefully bring this around. But really it’s uh, it’s become a danger. There are people that are losing their lives, serious injuries, and these things are growing in popularity. Uh, there’s no there’s no real restrictions here. It doesn’t matter.

2:40 Their ages aren’t being enforced. Don’t you know what.

2:44 Speaker 1 Else, They’re going the wrong way and nobody does anything about it.

2:48 Speaker 2 Yep, exactly. By the way, a lot of the folks that are driving these uh, they’re you know, they’re delivery people so forth, you know, trying to make a living. And I respect that and want those people to be able to do that. But when you have other people that press I’ve lost their license for drunk or drug

3:01 driving and now they’re driving a motorized vehicle, still unlicensed and recklessly. So these are the people that we need to bring under control. People are also committing crimes on these things and getting away with it. Right now, there’s a lot of confusion. Law enforcement doesn’t know what to do with these things. Class three, which is the ones

3:18 that can go up to thirty miles an hour. Some have been modified beyond thirty miles an hour, by the way, but the ones that are actually made to go thirty miles an hour, they’re only legal in New York City, and yet they’re all over New York State. I’ve I’ve been contacted by local law enforcement in my Senate districts

3:33 saying they’re not sure what to do. So my bill would clarify that it would define reckless driving reckless operation to include the things I said, go speeding, going against the flow of traffic, riding up on the sidewalk, endangering pedestrians.

3:48 All those things would define reckless operation, and it would allow the police to seize these bikes, particularly ones that are illegal outside of New York City, the Class three bikes. We need some common sense legislation because this has become a crisis. Like I said, the number one reason for kids going to merchancy rooms now is is accidents involving

4:06 these these e bikes and other micromobility scooters. It’s time to rain this in and restore some law and order on the sidewalks of our cities.

4:16 Speaker 1 Well, if we don’t have bipartisan on that simple note, because I haven’t met a Democrat or Republican that’s against regulations.

4:24 Speaker 2 In that, I agree, you know there are I will say, though, there are a significant group of legislators in Albany that refuse to do anything that increases punishment for any reason. We have legislators that vote against, you know, increasing the penalties for serious crimes in order to deter them everything from shoplifting to in some cases, sexual assault. We have

4:45 legislators that vote, know and anything that would actually increase penalties. So we’re going to have to get over that hurdle. It’s a political hurdle, but like I said, hopefully common sense bipartisan support will prevail.

4:56 Speaker 1 Well. Senator Georgia Burrello, thank you for your comment, sense, thank you for trying to have bipartisan on everything, and uh and we’ll catch up again real soon. And those motorcycles, those uh, you know, the quality of life for people, whether they’re they’re upstate or downstate, that’s more very important in the City of New York and the State of

5:19 New York. Thank you so much,